RUSH: I just think that it might be possible that Governor Christie is changing his mind -- not has changed his mind, but he's in the process of perhaps changing his mind about running for president. On previous occasions Governor Christie has said he's not ready, that he wouldn't go until he's ready, and there have been many who have had some pretty tough things to say about Governor Christie and his conservative credentials. For example, many suspect that he's really not that committed to closing the borders. There are those who say that while he is awesome in talking a good game in the unions and putting them in perspective and so forth, that he did not join, for example, the 26 states suing the government over Obamacare; that he opposed Christine O'Donnell, came out for Mike Castle.

I had people telling me that, I said, "Look, for crying out loud, the whole Republican Party came out for Mike Castle. If you expect to go anywhere in the mainstream Republican Party, there are certain things that you have to do, and opposing Christine O'Donnell was one of them." So I didn't so much hold that against him, but today Governor Christie has announced that he's going to withdraw New Jersey from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. That is a cap-and-trade scheme that when New Jersey gets out of it, will only involve nine states. Governor Christie has been a supporter of cap and trade; that's not a winning conservative or Republican issue.

That's a RINO Republican issue, cap and trade. You know, Pawlenty has done many mea culpas on his mistake of cap and trade. In that first Republican debate in South Carolina he spent a lot of time admitting, "Yeah, we all make mistakes. That was my big one." Governor Christie reportedly said in a press conference this Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is a "failure. It hasn't changed behavior. It doesn't reduce emissions." The American Tradition Institute executive director, Paul Chesser, issued this statement about Governor Christie: "This is yet another good move by Governor Christie in his continuing efforts to repeal failed, meddlesome, big government policies of the past.

"RGGI represented a hidden tax on electric bills for New Jersey citizens which went to a venture that benefited special alternative energy interests and was all cost and zero benefit." So Christie has seen the light on cap and trade. It's a trend. It's a trend in a position that would indicate, if you're running, you want to have this position on your ledger. Sarah Palin will hit the road this Memorial Day Weekend on a tour of the Northeast and possibly even New Hampshire; and so people say, "Well, this has gotta mean that she's officially going for it!" She's got this big bus that she's chartered -- a big, red-white-blue, patriotic bus; and she's gonna get in this bus.

On the side of the bus are emblazoned the words: "One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." She's gonna start the bus trip Sunday in Washington after she and her husband join 250 million motorcyclers at the Rolling Thunder event to support the troops: 250,000 motorcycles. She'll then leave and make her first stop at the National Archives. She and her husband are gonna stop by and take a look at the Constitution. Details on where she'll go next and when are unclear. But people are saying, "Well, why do this if you're not gonna run for president?" This is something that people are suggesting. (interruption)

Yeah, Harley-Davidson crowd, Rolling Thunder. (chuckles) I guaran-damn-tee you that is gonna roll some heads in the ruling elite. The Republican Ruling Class, the inside-the-Beltway crowd? Ho, can you imagine the conniption fit they're gonna have. Sarah Palin out there with the hawgs, the biker babes! Ho! The last line of the Daily Caller piece: "Christie, however, has said he still believes in global warming but is skeptical that it is entirely manmade." That's another step. Ever so few but nevertheless steps that Governor Christie is making in a direction certainly he has to go if he has any hope of getting primary voters to vote for him.

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RUSH: In the Bronx, hey, John, great to have you on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hi.

CALLER: How you doing, Rush?

RUSH: Good.

CALLER: Listen, that ad, by the way, that ad reminded me of the old Goldwater ad where they had the daisy blowing up with an atom bomb, you know --

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: -- same kind of effect as that.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: But the reason I'm calling is this thing about Christie running, and I told Snerdley, I'll tell you, I am more scared of a RINO than I am of a liberal. At least with a liberal Democrat you know where they're coming from, but all of a sudden these RINOs get in there and all of a sudden it's like playing a part, like somebody you never thought they were. A RINO, I'll tell you, you know what it is, Rush? You're nothing but a liberal, you know, with a new suit on, you know? And now here's Christie, he's taken off his suit, he's dusting it off and he's got it all cleaned up, you know, supposedly a run for the presidency.

RUSH: You think Christie's a RINO? Is that what you're saying?

CALLER: Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, it's like a lot of these RINOs, they get in there, they start to run, and they're like these old musicians, you know, like after 30 years of being a musician they go on a world tour for one last time, and I remember when Dole, you know, when he ran for office was like his road tour, like he was going around here, shaking hands here, giving everybody his big smile, you know, but in the end, you know, he just said, "Hi, thanks a lot," and he ran off and he started selling Viagra.

RUSH: Why do you think people like Christie, then, if he's a RINO?

CALLER: Excuse me?

RUSH: Why do they like Christie so much if he's a RINO?

CALLER: I don't know. First of all, he's not getting negative press from the press, which is another big clue. I mean, you know, like anybody that's doing their job, like Palin or Bachmann or any of these people that are doing their job, they're getting reamed, you know, left and right by the press. But the only little tap that Christie got was when he talked back to a couple of teachers, you know, and so right away they made him out to be some kind of a hero. Big deal.

RUSH: Well, now, wait a second, it's bigger than a big deal. You talk back to teachers union, you're talking back to all the union thugs, you're talking back to the media. Believe me, don't discount that. That is one of the major reasons he has a lot of support, because Republican voters are sick and tired of all of this wimpiness, politeness, whatever you want to call it. It's why they like Trump. Trump took it to Obama. Look, they see these people destroying the future for their kids and grandkids and it's not something you have to be nice about, so there are reasons why these people are attracting support based on their passion and their energy and the people they are willing to oppose. It does count for something.

CALLER: But you gotta look at their record and where they're coming from, too, Rush.

RUSH: Well, I know, Christie is cap and trade, open borders kind of guy, and he didn't join the health care lawsuit.

CALLER: Yeah, and then some of his appointments. He nominated that guy for Supreme Court in Jersey, you know, the Muslims, they're not too happy about that and the Sharia law, and he came out with the -- and another thing that ticked of me off, too, what are these guys doing knocking each other, like Christie, he came out and he gave Sarah Palin a big blast, you know, and --

RUSH: Well --

CALLER: -- you know, you don't do that --

RUSH: Who hasn't given Palin a big blast? They're scared of her. They're frightened of her. It's going to happen. It's going to be happening more and more and more. Yeah, that's right, Snerdley, they like Christie 'cause he's thrown his weight around. Yes, thank you. Thank you very, very much.

CALLER: I wanted to say something about this trip to the United Kingdom. I think this has been a complete snafu all the way down to his limousine getting hung up -- ha-ha -- on some pavement and I think they even had trouble in Ireland getting that thing down the road. But anyway, if you were watching Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, you would have thought Obama was one of the contestants. He didn't even have the sense to peek from his assistant who happened to be the bishop of Westminster when he asked him what the date was, and he couldn't even get the year right, and his face-off with Cameron, I don't think he came out well there. I don't know what he was trying to say, he was all over the map there, but I think he's beatable, Rush, and I think that's why you've got Christie, who wasn't gonna run. You got Giuliani talking about it. You got Palin starting here in the Washington area this weekend with Rolling Thunder. You got Rick Perry that's had it up to here with no government help with all the forest fires in Texas and the border problem --

RUSH: You know what, it is getting exciting. It's getting good. There's no question about it. Obama is beatable, and they know it in the White House, and they know it at Buckingham Palace. They know it wherever Obama goes. They know he's beatable. All these people throwing their hats in or appear to be throwing their hats in. Now, about Christie, I might have to reserve this. I might have to pull it back, because of this. There's more on Christie's decision about cap and trade here from the Philadelphia Inquirer. They quote Governor Christie. He said, "We're not going to participate anymore in something that doesn't work, but that is not abandonment of our commitment to continue to work towards renewable energy." Governor Christie said his regime would also ban future coal projects. Dicey. Start talking about banning coal. That's what Obama does. That's the way Obama talks.